


anaphora

by riverblujay



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Mostly Canon Compliant, Multi, kind of, post boo but pre toa, takes place around season 2 of voltron
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 16:49:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13885002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riverblujay/pseuds/riverblujay
Summary: a·naph·o·ra\ə-ˈna-f(ə-)rə\noun1 : repetition of similar words or expressions at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses, especially for rhetorical or poetic effect.(or: Keith and Nico switch places.)





	anaphora

**Author's Note:**

> pol·y·syn·de·ton  
> \po-li -ˈsin-də-ˌtän\  
> noun  
> 1 : the deliberate use of many conjunctions that ordinarily join coordinate words or clauses to show enormity  
> 2 : repetition of conjunctions in close succession

Keith wasn't exactly sure what had happened, only that he was hearing murmurs of unfamiliar voices.

“Chiron, like I said, I don't know what happened, Nico just… disappeared in a flash of purple-ish light, and suddenly there’s this kid that looks like him but isn’t him, and-”

“Child, do not worry. I am sure we will get to the bottom of this.” Child. So it was a teen, and not an adult. Keith had thought the first voice had sounded like a teenager, but he hadn’t been sure. And the other voice sounded all- well, old, but at the same time not old. 

Keith groaned. “He’s waking up,” said the teenager. “Patience, Will,” replied the other voice. He groggily opened his eyes to see a blond boy hovering over his head, and a man in a wheelchair sitting on his other side. It looked like he was in an infirmary of some sort.

“Who are you?” Keith asked in a scratchy voice. 

“My name is Will,” the blond boy answered.

“Keith,” he grunted in response to the other teen.

“And I am Chiron,” the dude in the wheelchair said. “My boy,” Chiron continued, “Do you have any idea what happened to you?”

He frowned. “All I remember is that I was, uh,” He eyed a sword in the corner so he continued with the truth, “just done with training, and then I was pulled into a wormhole. That's all I remember.”

Will collapsed back into the chair he had been sitting in, sighing and throwing his head into his hands. “Well _that_ doesn’t help us much,” he muttered.

“Hey, I don't know what's going on or where I am or even who you guys are besides your names! You obviously know at least a little more than me. Spill,” Keith growled angrily. There was a beat of silence as they looked at him with surprise. _Patience yields focus,_ he told himself. He took a deep breath in and exhaled.

“Sorry,” he told the two. “I shouldn’t have blown up on you like that. It’s just- I don’t know where I am or what’s happened to my friends and-” Chiron cut Keith off from his rambling. “It’s perfectly understandable, child.”

“As for where you are, this is the infirmary of Camp Half-Blood.”

“Half-Blood?” He asked incredulously, to no one in particular. He looked up at the sky. “Is this some kind of a joke? Whoever this is, it’s not funny.” Keith knew he was pouting, but he didn’t really care.

“Ohhhkaay,” Will obviously thought he was crazy in the way his voice trailed off. “Anyways, we really don’t know what happened either. One minute, one of our campers, Nico, was right next to me and suddenly he wasn’t.” Will’s face was scrunched up with worry. “I hope he’s okay.”

“Will, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“Thanks, Chiron, but still.”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Keith interjected, “If we traded places, and he’s where I just came from, my friends will make sure he’s okay.” That actually did seem to help, because Will gave him a small smile. 

“So…” Keith started. “Camp Half-Blood?”

“Have you ever heard of the Greek gods?” Keith thought he maybe remembered something from what schooling he had had, but not really. “I don’t think so? Maybe something about something called an Olympian?” Keith asked unsurely.

“Another name for the gods,” Chiron told him. “Basically, there are gods- don’t confuse that with God, uppercase G, though- that control the forces of nature, such as the seas, the sky, even the underworld.”

“And sometimes,” Will continued, “Those gods plop their butts down from Olympus to Earth,and then have kids. And those kids are called demigods. Or half-bloods.”

“So I’m on Earth?” Keith questioned. 

“Uh… why wouldn't you be?”

“Nevermind,” he told the blond. Chiron wasn’t fooled. Damn, he’d have to probably talk to the dude alone later. “Half god, huh? So… who’re you guys’... godly parents? Is that the right phrase to use here?”

Will gave him a slight smile. “Wow, for someone who’s never even heard of the gods, you’re pretty quick to accept all this.”

“Let’s just say I’ve heard of and seen stranger things.”

Chiron finished Will’s answer. “Will here is a son of Apollo, the god of music, poetry, and archery. I, myself, am a centaur, though I am not in full form right now. I did not think it wise to potentially overwhelm you.”

“Centaur- half human half horse, right?” Chiron nodded. Keith snorted. “Like I said, I’ve seen stranger.”

That statement seemed to leave an awkward pause. Probably wondering how he had seen stranger things than a horse/human hybrid. Keith used the time to scan his surroundings.

His eyes glanced back to the sword in the corner, bronze and about the length of his bayard in sword form. Which made sense, he guessed. Keith propped himself up further into more of a sitting position while managing not to groan. He was in a room that seemed pretty small for an infirmary- maybe there were others. The room itself had blank walls, white and pristine. He was laying in a cot, and his bayard and jacket were on the bedside table next to him. _Thank fuck,_ he thought. At least he wasn’t defenseless, although he didn’t have his suit, but if he was back on Earth…

How _had_ this happened? The last place he was had been the castle, but they had been nowhere near Earth. The first thing he needed to do was figure out how to get back. Or get in contact with the others. But both of those things brought up the same question- how could he contact the others? _Lance,_ he thought, and tried to push down his emotions. The last thing he needed to do in a crisis was lose his head.

_Think. What would Shiro do, what would Shiro do…_

Keith forced himself to close his eyes and focus. Right. The first thing he needed to do, he decided, was try to find more about this “camp,” or whatever it was. Maybe take a look around. He could figure out what to do next after he knew more about exactly where he was. Keith opened his eyes to find the boy and the horse-man staring intently at him.

“Okay,” he told the two. “So, am I allowed to like, see this place?”

Chiron was obviously hesitant, but in the end reluctantly nodded. “I suppose. Will can show you around. But I have a question for you first.” The centaur gestured towards his bayard with his head. “Is that your weapon?”

“Yeah,” Will agreed, “You had mentioned training.”

Keith sighed. Obviously he wasn’t going to get away with keeping everything under-wraps, but he might be able to keep a few secrets, well, secret. _Like the fact that you’re part Galra,_ his brain supplied. _Shut up,_ he told it.

“Yeah,” the paladin sighed. “That’s my weapon. My bayard.”

Pause. Keith really didn’t want to have to make a break for it, or worse, fight against these people, but if they tried to take his bayard away then there would be problems. 

“In that case, you should take it with you,” Chiron replied, and Keith just barely succeeded in keeping the confusion and relief from his face. “Best have your own weapon with you, since you have one. Will,” Chiron turned toward the blond, “Please escort Keith around camp.”

“It’ll probably be close to dinner when we’re done. Where should he sit?”

Keith frowned. Why would it matter where he sat at dinner?

The centaur grimaced. “Best not to take any chances. He’ll sit at the high table.”

“Will do,” Will replied eagerly. “Come on,” he directed to Keith. “Lots of things to see.”

He managed to stand up and not look like he was about to fall over, only leaning on the bedside table a little bit as he took his bayard and jacket from where they sat. As he shrugged his jacket on, Keith followed Will out of the room, into the hallway, and then outside the house. 

“Whoa,” he breathed when he looked out from the porch over the camp.

It was huge, with cabins forming… An omega, he was pretty sure. There were strawberry fields that stretched on for what looked like at least a mile. Keith was also pretty sure he saw a giant wall near the edge of the massive forest that had lava. 

“As you can probably see, over there’s the strawberry fields. We use that to fund our expenses. Right next to it is the forest. Don’t go in it,” Will cautioned him. “And if you have to, take a camper at the _very least,_ and your weapon… A _bayard_ , you called it?” Keith nodded. “Definitely bring it. The woods have monsters in it, usually, though we try to keep them out. Come on, follow me, more shit to see and all that,” the blond said over his shoulder as he started walking.

“Coming,” Keith told the other boy.

They started the journey down the hill, Will telling him all sorts of things about the camp; it had that lava wall, an armory, and pegasi stables (winged horses. Keith had almost said _dude what the fuck_ out loud right then and there. Then he remembered that he flew around in space on a giant metal lion that fused together with four other metal lions to form an even bigger metal space soldier. And he was part alien. Wow, he’d fit right in here if all these people really were half god or whatever).

Keith was pulled out of his inner thoughts by the sound of Will continuously repeating his name.

“Keith. Keith. Hello. Earth to Keith.”

“What? Oh, sorry,” He apologized. “Got lost in my thoughts.”

“It’s okay, I imagine this is probably a little overwhelming for you,” he admitted. Keith shrugged.

Will quickly glanced at his watch. Keith was pretty sure he heard him mumble to himself, “Think we’ve got enough time,” which was just plain confusing until the son of Apollo turned towards him.

“I have an idea! You said you were training, right? Before you were zapped here?”

“Yeah…? So what?”

Will gave him a devious smile. “I know where to go next. Please tell me that ‘bayard’ of yours is a sword,” he said more rapidly and excitable than his voice had been all day. “Yup,” Keith agreed. “Why?”

“Well,” Will drawled, “I’m not nearly as good as my boyfriend at swordsmanship, but I reckon I’ll at least be able to spar with you.” This time it was Keith that smiled deviously. “Ha. Good luck. Not to brag, but I’ve been told I’m pretty good with a sword.”

“Excellent, I’m up for a challenge.” Will led him towards the arena. He hoped Will was actually pretty decent, otherwise it would be awkward if Keith creamed him in five seconds flat. The boyfriend comment made Keith less reluctant to share the fact that he was worried for Lance if it ever came up. (Calling Lance his ‘boyfriend,’ was weird, but only because of the novelty of their relationship.) It also made sense that Will was worried if this Nico that had disappeared and left Keith in his place was his boyfriend.

They hadn’t been far from the arena when the idea had occurred to the blond, so it took a few minutes max to reach their destination. When Keith walked in, he could tell there was an impressed expression on his face- because he _was_ impressed. There were rows upon rows of all sorts of knives, swords, hell, even hammers and blunt weapons. He walked along the walls of the large amphitheater in awe. “You like it, huh?” Will asked with a small smile that looked part sarcastic and part wistful. Keith could only bring himself to nod at first. “It’s really cool,” he finally admitted, unable to come up with any other words.

Keith knew it probably wasn’t that big of a deal to most people, but he would take anything he could get that was a constant in this crazy parallel world.

“Yeah,” Will chuckled. “Nico likes to spar too. I try, but I usually can’t keep up with him in hand-to-hand or close combat. I usually kick his ass at archery, so it works out.” The paladin offered him a small smile. “I guess we’ll have to see who kicks whose ass, huh?”

“I suppose,” Will pouted. “But I had been pretty sure-”

Keith suddenly heard a boisterous laugh, one that filled the entire room. From the corner, a figure emerged from and spilled into the arena. He turned to find the owner of the laugh, and was met with someone who was probably his age or only a year or two older. The teenager had rambunctious, dark curls, and was definitely taller than Keith. He wasn’t lanky, per se, but he wasn’t overly buff either. His skin was a dark tan. When he looked at Keith, he could see that there was a split-second of what seemed like recognition but then realization in sea-green eyes. _I must really look like that Nico kid,_ the paladin thought to himself. 

“Percy!” Will shouted as he ran towards the tall kid- Percy, apparently. 

“Hey, Will. I was just stopping in.” The other boy’s green eyes were obviously looking at Keith with suspicion. “Who’s this?”

“Oh, right,” Will said. “Percy, Keith. Keith, Percy.” He turned to the other boy. “Basically, there was an… incident.”

Percy frowned. “What _kind_ of incident?”

“Uh, well, Nico kind of just... vanished into a wormhole thing and it spit out Keith in its place,” the blond said, rushing through the last part with a slight grimace on his face.

“Seriously?” Percy frowned. “You’re sure it wasn’t some kind of, like, shadow travel thing?” _Shadow travel?_ Keith mused to himself. 

“Nope,” Will interrupted his thought, “I’ve seen shadow travel, and this didn’t look anything like it.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah, pretty much,” the blond returned with a shrug and jerking tilt of his head. Percy turned towards Keith and had a pensive look on his face. “Keith, huh? Gods, you and Nico could be twins.” Hmm. That must have been why Percy looked at him like he knew him at first. “So I’ve been told,” Keith replied, sliding a glance towards Will.

“Well, Percy, I was just going to ask you something,” Will brought their attention back to him. “Keith has a sword. You have a sword. You guys should totally spar.” Percy’s eyebrows almost disappeared into his hairline in surprise.

“Really, dude?” Percy turned to Keith. “I mean, if you want to…” He trailed off. Keith returned the questioning glance with a shrug. “I’m down for it if you are.” There was an awkward moment where he and the other teen stared at each other. 

“...So, you guys gonna spar or what?” Once again, the son of Apollo brought them back to the present.

“Right,” Percy said. “So, what’s your sword made of? I mean, mine’s celestial bronze, but Nico has this Stygian Iron one that’s really wicked looking, but-”

“It’s right here,” Keith drawled, gesturing to his bayard. Will and Percy looked confused for a second, then a look of understanding dawned on the brunet’s face. “Oh, it’s magic, right? It transforms from that- whatever you call that thing?” Percy’s explanation made the son of Apollo practically whisper a small, “Oh, duh, magic,” under his breath that Keith probably wasn’t meant to hear.

“I mean, basically. It’s called a bayard,” Keith informed the other boys.

“Nice. Mine’s the same way.” Percy smirked as he pulled out of his pocket a… pen? Which he then uncapped and turned into three feet of what he assumed was ‘celestial bronze,’ according to brunet’s rambling. “Yeah,” Percy interjected, “Pretty cool, right? Part of it’s magic means it always returns to my pocket eventually no matter where I lose it. As of the five years I’ve had it, anyways.”

“Nice.” 

“So, what’s with your sword?” Keith smirked back at the demigod and summoned his sword. “Whoa, cool,” Percy breathed in awe. 

Both of the other boys drunk in the sword’s appearance. It was a gleaming, silvery, white- the kind of white that only a magic sword could stay after multiple battles. The curved handle in the bayard itself extended and the outer rim of his weapon wrapped around his wrist for maximum stability. The blade had a strip of red down the middle extending from the handle, signifying the position of the red paladin. 

“Wild,” Will exhaled. 

“I know,” replied Percy. “And I thought my sword was magic.”

Keith gave the other a shit-eating grin. “I dunno, man, I think your sword’s pretty wicked too.”

The three stayed frozen, seemingly unable to move from their positions despite their original intention to spar. Keith heard a sound in the distance- a horn, maybe?

“Shit, is it dinner time already?” Will said with a frown. “Guess we’d better get down to the pavilion. You gonna walk with us, Percy?” 

“Yeah, gimme a sec.” Percy touched the cap of his pen/sword to the tip of his blade and it shrank back to its original form. Keith got the memo and released his sword, tucking his bayard away afterwards. The brunet stored the pen in his pocket. 

“Ready?” Percy asked, turning toward Keith. The paladin gestured forward with his hand.

“Lead the way.”

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this ages ago, and I told myself I wouldn't start publishing it until I had it completely finished. but. here we are.
> 
> I mostly started this because my friend was into voltron before me, and she had told me even before I started watching it that one of the characters looked a lot like Nico (then I started watching vld and became more obsessive than her, but. semantics). Hopefully I actually finish this one and it doesn't get lost with the thousand other ideas and wips I have. The good news is that I have a semblance of a plot planned for this one, but tbh who knows how long this is gonna take. I have started working on the second chapter, but I also won't have a lot of time until after the semester (bc I'm a masochist that took ap lit).
> 
> (im also a nerd bc title/chapter titles are literary terms)


End file.
